


all the pieces lie where they fell

by yespeon



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Spoilers, like really squint, post-kh3, seriously major spoilers, some like. mild shippy stuff for leaisa/terraqua/namixi/sorikai if you really heckin squint.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-10-24 03:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17697011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yespeon/pseuds/yespeon
Summary: “but if it’s your fate, then another step forward is always another step closer to home.” post-KH3, dealing with the aftermath.





	1. Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas and Xion learn to cope with their loss, and Isa learns to empathize.

Roxas felt Sora leave before it happened.

His head turned to the spot where Sora sat with Kairi, and in his peripheral vision he saw Ven give him a sorrowful look. It was in that moment… he knew. Before Donald and Goofy could point the two of them out, before the King all directed their attention to them, he knew what they would see, and he wanted nothing more than to look away.

But Sora would have teasingly told him to _“look sharp!”_ and so he didn’t tear his gaze away. He just allowed the sickening pit in his stomach to grow as time seemed to stand still for a moment, his breath caught in his chest.

Destiny Island’s light had never felt so bright, and in that blinding moment, Sora was gone.

A silence blanketed the beach, one that was uncomfortable and drowned them all in unspoken grief. Although Sora’s mind had been up, Roxas felt they had allowed this to happen. It was a grief that held on tight like claws to his heart, a stabbing pain he couldn’t shake, not even weeks later.

“Roxas, you have to eat your dinner if you want ice cream. “ Isa droned icily before Lea gave him a sharp look, while Xion pushed the food around on her plate to make it at least look like she made an attempt to eat something.

Roxas stared hard at the table before slamming his fist onto it. “It isn’t fair!” He blurted, causing Xion to look up with a mixture of pity and agreement. “He should be here! There should have been another way!”

“His mind was made up.” Xion repeated, if more of an insistence to herself than what she actually believed. She clenched her fist, as if trying to grasp at a memory or feeling that was eluding her. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried to stop him.” Her look at Isa was chilly enough for Roxas to feel like a blizzard spell had been cast down his spine.

Isa let out a heavy sigh, repeating himself as he had for the past several days since the moment on the beach. “Sora is gone and by his own choice. There is nothing we can do about it.” 

Roxas opened his mouth to retort how cold that was when Isa was still looking for a friend he couldn’t even fully remember when Lea beat him to it. “Man, even if it’s true, you don’t have to say it.” He said, clearly uncomfortable about the explosion that was about to unfold.

“There is always something we can do, or we wouldn’t be here!” Roxas insisted, slamming his fork down on the table. To his relief, Xion stood up and followed him, the two of them closing the door to the apartment just in time to cut off the explosion of Lea and Isa beginning an argument.

The worst part was how the worlds just kept going, as if they just hadn’t lost their greatest savior. Roxas shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked past the bistro, the smell of food making his stomach growl. Maybe he should have finished dinner.

Xion broke the silence, offering him a smile of encouragement. “I don’t know how or when, but we’ll figure something out. Sora will be okay.” It was an optimism that reminded him of their other, but Roxas pushed that thought aside, knowing that Sora would have wanted Xion and himself to think of their hope as their own.

It was hope that he gifted him, a second chance for the two of them to live and be whole, a life that they had resigned themselves to never being able to truly live. 

Roxas just wished that he didn’t pay for all his good deeds with his life.

His footsteps carried him across town, before he stopped at the Sandlot. It had been a while since he had been here, and he gingerly picked up a nearby Struggle bat and tossed it to Xion. “Wanna just hit something instead?”

Xion looked over the bat for a moment before tossing it from hand to hand to check its weight. “Yeah, but then you’ll need to spend your extra munny on hi-potions instead of ice cream.”

“Haha, very funny.”

It was a sarcastic jibe but despite that Roxas found himself smiling. This is what Sora wanted, what they all fought for— for them to be whole, to live, but it still felt empty knowing that he had to disappear to achieve everyone else’s happiness.

A confident voice broke his thoughts. “You two got room for three more?”

Roxas blinked as he looked up. “Hayner, Pence, Olette!”

Hayner picked up a bat and slung it over his shoulder as he walked into the ring, smirk plastered wide across his face. “I’ve been meaning to practice.”

“He loses every year.” Olette chimed in helpfully, Hayner giving her a glare, as she and Pence moved to sit on one of the benches. “Are you two looking to be in the next Struggle tournament?”

Xion shrugged her shoulders, but her voice was wistful and far away, and Roxas knew that despite her smiles she was hurting just as badly. “We’ll probably enter, but we actually just came down here to think.” Or not think. A heavy silence blanketed the Sandlot— it was clear as to why. Roxas scuffed his shoe against the ground, the only sound besides the echo of the tram car’s bells down the street. Hayner, Pence, and Olette didn’t ask to be caught up in this mess, and here they were grieving just the same.

“When Sora was here,” Roxas said, shattering the tense atmosphere like it was glass, “how did he go about trying to get me to come back?” It was certainly going to be some sort of light-in-our-hearts mumbo-jumbo that he knew he wouldn’t understand, especially since he knew Yen Sid and the King were unlikely to show anyone else the Power of Waking after Sora’s abuse, and Riku sure as hell wasn’t going to share that information with him.

Hayner set the bat aside and crossed his arms in thought. “Well, we thought that old mansion might have some clues. There’s some really weird equipment in there and a couple libraries.”

Pence snorted. “Really weird equipment? It’s just a computer.”

“A really weird computer!” Hayner insisted as Olette laughed, standing up and offering Roxas and Xion a sympathetic smile.

She put her hands behind her back as she leaned forward, a habit Roxas decided she had picked up from Kairi. “We could go there right now.” She suggested, and he turned his eyes to meet Xion’s. The two of them nodded in unison.

“I’ve actually been wanting to look at that computer myself.” Xion mentioned to Pence as the two of them chatted about getting Ienzo on the line to help if needed, or even Naminé, since she was a bit more familiar with the mansion itself.

The despair that had formed a pit of anxiety in his stomach lessened with every step they took towards finding an answer. None of them were going to give up, and their resilience was as strong and bright as the rays of the setting sun. Roxas felt the tension in his shoulders relax as they wandered through the tunnels to lead them to the forests.

“Hey, you kids better not leave us behind in the dust now. We’re worried too, yknow.”

Immediately the tension returns.

Roxas turned around first with the rest of them to follow, and he narrowed his eyes at a very sheepish looking Lea and an equally tense Isa. “Are both of you?” He couldn’t help but ask snidely, and Lea scratched at his head awkwardly and turned to look off to the side as Isa stepped forward.

“Yes. I…” He struggled for a moment, the words difficult to pull from his heart, “I apologize, Roxas. Lea and I just know what it’s like to search for a friend for years.” Isa murmured, deeply uncomfortable to say as much aloud. Roxas exhaled a sigh. So that’s what that was about?

“You could have just said so.” Roxas mumbled, and Xion stepped forward to join him, a sympathetic smile on her face. For all Isa had ever wronged her, she was the first to extend the olive branch-- it was admirable, to just forgive, but she had always been like that.

“Even if we can’t find Sora…” Xion said shakily, looking up at the two of them. “I’d rather feel the regret of not finding him than not trying at all. We owe it to him.”

For a moment Isa’s eyes flicker to something softer, more understanding, and even though it is fleeting, Roxas knew there was no mistaking what he saw. Lea clapped a hand on Isa’s shoulder and gave a grin to the three of them, looking between them all.

“Well, what are we waiting for? We’ve got a mansion to explore.” Lea announced before taking the lead, and turned to give Roxas and Xion a confident grin. “Someone’s gotta stay up front and take out any Heartless that show up, y’know? And as the resident keyblade master-to-be—”

Xion was the first to let out a strangled noise that was halfway between a yelp and laughter. “You? I think Roxas and I will be taking the exam first, thank you very much.” She said as she summoned her keyblade and walked up front, and Lea crossed his arms defensively while doing his best to not break out into laughter.

“H-hey now! I’m getting better! And I’m not the only one who needs improvement, you need to learn to cast something other than fire magic—” 

“She’s right, Lea.” From the look on Xion’s face, Roxas knew they were words she never thought she’d hear coming from Isa. “You should stop eating three ice creams after dinner and get to training.” He said, bemused.

Pence jumped up as if he had an idea, slamming his fist into his palm decisively. “Yeah, you could get the cool samurai-looking keybearers to help you train.”

“Samurai-looking keybearers? You mean Terra and Aqua?” Roxas interjected, barely containing his laughter before pulling his gummiphone out of his back pocket, thumbs tapping away at a text message. “I’m telling Ven you called them that.”

“No, no, don’t do that!”

Laughter erupted and bubbled across the clearing and continued as they walked into the woods, warm hope blossoming in Roxas’ chest. He wished that Sora could be here with them, to share in all the friendships he had gained across the years and the people that were thankful to be saved— but Sora would be here. They would make sure of that, and they would do it together.

He could feel it, as sure as Sora felt that he could save him— that he could save everyone. With a renewed vigor, Roxas looked skyward to the setting sun.

_One day, you’ll be here to laugh and share ice cream with us on the tower. I promise… We all promise you that, Sora._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first time writing seasalt seven so please Forgive Me— and my first time publicly posting fanfiction in over ten years. this is a fic in three parts, fixing some things that i'm able to. there's a lot to fix so idk if i will be able to encompass it all, but here everybody gives a shit about what happened to sora, at least!


	2. Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua searches relentlessly for answers, Terra wonders if they'll find one, and Ven shares Chirithy's secret.

All three of them owed their lives to Sora, and his disappearance hung heavy over their hearts.

Moonlight filtered through the windows of the library as Aqua brushed a thick layer of dust off of a shelf, gently plucking an old tome out of its grasp and onto a stack balanced precariously in her arms. She set it down on the nearby coffee table, careful not to tip over the numerous lamps and candles she had set up. A half-yawn half-sigh escaped her lips as she pulled a pocket watch out of the robe she was wearing, her tiredness causing the hands to blur together— it was 3am, no, 4am? 

It didn’t matter. She had more reading to do. 

There had to be something, _anything_ , in here that could help them find their way to Sora.

She sunk back into the couch as she grabbed the topmost book, flicking through its contents and occasionally giving a cough as a puff of dust and dirt threatened to choke her. Although it was definitely an older tome full of knowledge Master Eraqus hadn’t even mentioned to her or Terra throughout her apprenticeship, she didn’t see a single instance or mention of the power of waking mentioned at all throughout the text. Sighing, she dropped it into an ever growing pile next to the side of the couch.

“You’re in here again?”

Terra’s voice startled her— she was far too used to loneliness and only her own thoughts to keep her company in the dark— but surprised, almost fearful look in Aqua’s eyes faded into something more gentle and tired. “Yeah. Still searching.”

“You’re probably going to read every book in the library at this rate.” Terra said as he collapsed into the couch next to her, bunching the pillows and causing Aqua to have to steady herself a little. 

“You could help.” Aqua teased as she offered him a book, and while once years ago Terra would have declined and said he was more of an action kind of guy than a bookworm, he took it and moved to share the lamp light with her (and made an attempt to not focus on the brush of his shoulder next to hers.)

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, the two of them rifling through pages of ancient journals and traditions that had been lost to time or practice, and some to faded ink. Although he had nightmares that kept him awake— the feeling of being contained again, visions of Xehanort committing atrocities with his body— Terra couldn’t help but almost nod off and found himself reading the same line over and over. Even though sleep was something he desperately needed, he felt secretly thankful for Aqua’s frustrated huff that jolted him awake.

“Finally found the book with water, watera, and waterga casting instructions in it.” She grumbled, and set it aside in its own pile. She brought a hand up to her eyes to rub the sleep that threatened to overtake her, haunted by her own demons at night, hers taking the form of black, beady-eyed monsters that lurked in every corner. Terra managed a smile despite both of their obvious stubbornness, and leaned over to pick it up.

“Why wasn’t this with the rest of the spellbooks?” He rifled through the pages to find not printed text but handwriting, the curled letters like a winding serpent that were difficult to decipher without some squinting. 

That was his answer well enough, but Aqua chimed in regardless. “It’s a journal from some long-ago era. I can’t tell who it’s by, the page is ripped.” Their shared silence afterward was because they were both thinking the same thing: it contained knowledge the Master had barred them from. Not spells, but talk of wars and powers that he was afraid of them using.

That had had been afraid of Xehanort using.

It was why it had been left in a shelf too high to reach without a ladder, in an unlabeled corner hopefully to never be read. The fact it even still existed shocked Aqua, having received a lecture for asking to hear the fairy tale about the children rebuilding the world when she was young.

“Do you think…” The words fell silent on Terra’s lips. Aqua peered at him curiously. There were many ways to finish that question, some of them more haunting than others, and she could only begin to speculate on how he’d finish it: _...we could finish reading in the morning? ...that the Master was right to forgive Xehanort? ...that we will ever find a way to bring back Sora?_

Aqua tilted her head, as if about to ask him what he meant but the doors to the library slammed open once again, as a far less tired and far too rambunctious for how late it was Chirithy followed by Ventus ran into the room. 

“You get back here!” Ven shouted as Chirithy darted underneath tables and behind shelves, nearly knocking over the pile of books Aqua had precariously stacked. Terra could tell from her sheet-white face that the two had nearly given her some sort of heart attack, clearly forgetting how jumpy she still was even after being reassured time and time again she was in the Realm of Light.

“No! No!!” Chirithy squealed before jumping into a chair and hiding beneath the cushion as if he couldn’t be seen, his stubby back legs and cape just peeking out from underneath it as he struggled to escape from Ven. Typical cat.

“Ventus,” Aqua stated calmly after regaining her composure, too calmly, even, in that sort of way a teacher attempting to keep her cool in a classroom full of unwieldy children would, “what is going on here?”

Ven rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, a habit he had picked up from hanging out with Lea. “Couldn’t sleep.” He had ‘slept for twelve years and could barely stand to keep sleeping for much longer’ was what he told them each night, although Aqua had a sneaking suspicion that the boy felt badly that he was able to get a good night’s rest when she and Terra struggled to find peace every time they closed their eyes.

The last vestiges of a lost thought sparked in Ven’s eyes though, remembering why he actually threw open the doors to this room in the first place. “Oh, yeah! Chirithy has something to say.” He said, crossing his arms and giving the gray tabby dream eater a cross look.

“No I don’t! You’re mistaken!” Chirithy chirped back, his voice muffled from his hiding spot. “It’s not something we should talk about!”

“I’m tired of that always being the case!” Ven scoffed and turned to Terra and Aqua. “Chirithy said something really weird about what happened at the graveyard. I think it could help us find Sora!” He grinned. Hopefully it would, he sure owed Sora one. He had been there for him twice, and Ven had only paid him back once, during his exam… and it barely even worked!

Chirithy wiggled out from underneath the cushion to jump back onto the floor, his landing sounding more like that of a plush toy with a squeaker inside landing than an actual cat’s pawpads. “Oh, brother. It’ll just have the three of you doing something reckless to bring him back. Haven’t you all pulled enough stunts like that?”

A heavy silence fell across the room. 

Chirithy quickly realized he had said the wrong thing and briefly wondered if he was wrong to come back, Ven had two very good friends who would do anything for him, and yet here he was telling them that going to the end of the worlds for someone was wrong. He hung his head for a moment until he felt his paws lift off the ground— Ven had picked him up.

“That’s just what friends do for each other. It doesn’t always have to make sense.” Ven said with a smile, Terra and Aqua nodding behind him.

Chirithy sighed, relaxing in Ven’s hold. “Okay. I’ll tell you. Your fight against Xehanort’s forces in the Keyblade Graveyard was not your first one. You had gone to war once before.” He explained. Aqua’s eyes widened and she could see that Terra felt just as shocked— Ven, however, was regarding the news rather nonchalantly. This must have been what Chirithy slipped up about… and she got the distinct feeling he was not talking about their fight from over a decade ago.

“All of you perished. Sora used the power of waking to restore your hearts, but doing so was dangerous.” Chirithy lamented, his ears drooping even further. “His fate was sealed even before he went to go find Kairi.”

Aqua swallowed thickly— there were times the three of them couldn’t sleep, not because of nightmares of horrors past, but things that had not even occurred. There were times Ven woke up with phantom pains from a wound to his torso, moments where she woke up in a cold sweat at the thought of a demon tide’s horde of heartless choking the light out of her, and perhaps worst of all there was Terra, who was consumed with guilt of nightmares of extinguishing the lives of his friends when no such thing came to pass.

Chirithy could read the uncomfortable silence and hung his head. “I knew telling you would upset you. That’s why I didn’t say anything. It’s also why you have those nightmares— I try and get rid of all of them, but there’s so many… Huh?” 

He looked up as he felt a large hand on top of his head, and saw that it belonged to Terra, who had gotten up and crossed over to them. Although his expression was still a bit stern, his eyes were soft, and Chirithy relaxed. “We know you’re doing your best. We’re glad you’re here.”

“That’s right.” Aqua echoed the sentiment, joining the three of them, and although her movements felt sluggish and her eyelids heavy from lack of sleep, she managed a smile. “If what you say is true then… maybe it’ll take all of us that Sora helped to bring him back. We just all have to believe in him, like he did in us.” It was all they could do until they found a more concrete solution, and she knew there were many more besides just the four of them looking for answers. 

They would find a way— they owed it to him.

Ven, still running on too much energy, gave a ‘whoop’ of agreement before pulling them into a group hug, Chirithy stuck in the middle, giving an aggravated squeal at the sudden movement. “No! You guys are squishing me!” He protested before wriggling out of Ven’s arms and onto the floor, darting out into the hallway.

“Hey! Get back here! You can’t leave a group hug!” Ven called out as he ran out the doors after him, and skidded to a halt before turning to Terra and Aqua. “Hey, looks like the sun’s coming up— I’ll go make breakfast! We can have waffles!” He said, too quickly for Aqua to chastise him about the mess he would likely make before he ran off.

“We should probably go help him.” Aqua said, stifling a yawn as she gently blew out some of the candles and giving an appreciative smile as she noticed Terra making a pile of the books neither of them got to reading. “I highly doubt he’s any less likely to set the kitchen on fire than he was before everything happened, so…”

Terra noticed the yawn she had desperately tried to hide. “I can go help him. You can sleep if you need to.” He said, knowing that even though she needed to, the truth was that she couldn’t— and he knew she could say the same for him.

“I’ll nap later, I promise.” Aqua said as the two of them walked out of the library, the light of the sun peaking over the mountaintops washing the hallway in an orange glow. “Besides, I kind of want to watch the sun rise.” She said as she leaned against a pillar to look out the window. “It’s… something I didn’t think I’d ever have to miss.”

“I know.” Terra said, joining her at the window. “But now… it’s something we don’t have to.” _Thanks to Sora._

It was a thought that once filled them with regret, but as dawn rose over the Land of Departure, maybe it could become hope: the start of a new beginning for the three of them, and a promise to bring back the boy whose light had touched so many.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAA thank you all for such great feedback on the first chapter, i really appreciate it! every kudos and comment means a lot especially for this being my first return to fanfic in a long while. anyway, tried to keep my terraqua agenda out of this one, failed miserably, but what can you do? next chapter is the last one, and i think you can guess which characters it's going to feature. until next time and thank you!


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